NEW YORK—New York Gov. Kathy Hochul threatened Tuesday to deploy National Guard troops to restore order as a strike among prison guards across the state entered its second day.
State officials and union leaders agree that the strikes violate rules for state employees.
“The illegal and unlawful actions being taken by a number of correction officers must end immediately,” Hochul said in a statement. “We will not allow these individuals to jeopardize the safety of their colleagues, incarcerated people, and the residents of communities surrounding our correctional facilities.”
The state corrections officer union says its “members’ backs are against the wall.” They’re demanding higher pay, stricter security checks for prison visitors and a rollback on prison reforms, including those that limit solitary confinement.
Numbers of staff failing to enter the facilities were not immediately available, but WIVB reported at least some staff refuse to enter their shifts at 25 prisons. Local media reported there was picketing outside multiple detention facilities.
“They know they can be fined and disciplined,” Kenny Gold of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association told local television station WIVB at a protest outside the Collins Correctional Facility on Monday.
Corrections officials met with union officials Tuesday, Hochul’s statement said, adding she’d compel workers to head back to their shifts.
The strike follows renewed calls for accountability for prison guards, after video released in January showed corrections officers beating a handcuffed man at the Marcy Correctional Facility. He died the next day and the Governor eventually ordered the firing of prison staffers. The death was ruled was ruled a homicide earlier in February.
